Category: India

Passengers will have to pay Rs 10 extra for their air travel from September 1 as the Ministry of Civil Aviation has decided to revise the rates of aviation security fee (ASF) for domestic and international passengers. According to officials, the ASF for domestic flyers will be increased by Rs 10 to Rs 160 while the international passengers will have to pay $5.2 instead of the current $4.85. The ASF is used to fund the security arrangement at airports across the country. The ASF was hiked last year to Rs 150 from Rs 130, and international passengers were charged $4.85 ... Read more

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has started a special safety audit of all Indian airlines, two weeks after the plane crash in Kerala’s Kozhikode in which 18 people were killed, a senior official of the aviation regulator said on Thursday. “It will be a complete FOQA (Flight Operations Quality Assurance) audit,” he said. The FOQA is the process of obtaining and analysing all kinds of data from flights to improve the safety and efficiency of future flight operations, PTI reports. “All Indian airlines will undergo the special safety audit that has begun. In the first phase, we are ... Read more

The Association of Tourism Trade Organisations India (ATTOI) has urged the Indian government to initiate direct flights between Thiruvananthapuram and various European cities, to rekindle interest among European guests to visit the state of Kerala. ATTOI President Vinod CS has said that starting air travel services to cities like Frankfurt, London, Zurich and Dublin will help to rejuvenate the tourism sector in Kerala, especially in the post-COVID scenario. “The greater connectivity to Europe will help European travellers to visit us more often, thus contributing more foreign exchange earnings for the state,” he said. “I hope the Central government can expedite ... Read more

Chandy’s Windy Woods, Munnar, has been awarded by TripAdvisor, as the “first among the best 25 luxury hotels in India” and also as the “9th among top 25 hotels in Asia”. It also has been ranked “17th among world’s top 25 hotels”. Chandy’s Windy Woods, Munnar, has always been a “classic choice” for family vacations, honey mooning, destination weddings and corporate events, the hotel management said in a statement. “We believe our success mantra to be our quality service, hospitality, food and of course the breath-taking view of the tea plantation from every room,” the statement added. “We are humbled by this ... Read more

The Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday approved the proposal for leasing out three airports, Jaipur, Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram, to Adani Enterprises that won these in an auction last year. Billionaire Gautam Adani-led private developer had emerged as the successful bidder in a global competitive bidding conducted by the Airports Authority of India (AAI).  The AAI will get an upfront amount of Rs 1,070 crore from handing over the airports to the private developer, said Union minister Prakash Javadekar. “The upfront amount of Rs 1,070 crore that will come to AAI will be used for developing airports in smaller airports. The other benefit ... Read more

India is negotiating with 13 countries, including Australia, Japan and Singapore, to establish separate bilateral air bubble arrangements for international flight operations, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has said. Under a bilateral air bubble pact, airlines of both the countries can operate international flights with certain restrictions. Puri said on Twitter air bubbles have also been proposed with our neighbours Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Nepal and Bhutan. Since July, India has established such bubbles with the following countries – the US, the UK, France, Germany, the UAE, Qatar and the Maldives. “We are now taking these efforts forward & ... Read more

KTM President Baby Mathew Somatheeram has said the state government’s announcement to support the tourism sector with a financial package, should have come earlier. “I am happy that such a move has happened at least now, though there has been some delay. It should have happened earlier. For months, KTM has been trying to ask the government for this support. Every month we have been following up,” he said. Still, many things are yet to be announced, he added. For example, support for the houseboat sector. KTM had met with the chief minister and tourism minister, finance minister, industries minister ... Read more

The Kerala government will shortly announce a relief package aimed at homestays and houseboats, CKTI President EM Najeeb has said. CKTI President EM Najeeb said he has personally met the minister to congratulate him for the relief package announced. “The government’s relief package is a morale booster for the entire Kerala tourism industry. The industry will stand united and support the government,” he said. “The minister has assured me that shortly the government will announce a relief package for homestays, houseboats and guides,” Najeeb said. “Kerala’s tourism sector will get rejuvenated by this move. Considering that the Union government has ... Read more

Kerala Tourism has announced a Rs 455 crore loan scheme to support the sector which has been decimated by the COVID-19 pandemic, in a move that’s bound to bring substantial relief to the industry. The scheme known as the Chief Minister’s Special Tourism Loan Fund will benefit both entrepreneurs and employees of the sector who are struggling to keep themselves afloat. As per the scheme announced by Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran, 2,500 large scale entrepreneurs in the sector can avail working capital loans from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 25 lakh. Besides that,  2,500 small scale tourism entrepreneurs can avail ... Read more

Leading tourism associations have come forward to congratulate the Kerala state government’s decision to announce a financial package worth Rs 455 crore, which will be used to provide loans to entrepreneurs and employees in the industry. ATTOI President Vinod CS said he would like to congratulate the State Government, Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran, Tourism Secretary Rani George and all the officials of the tourism department for putting together this package. “This is will be highly beneficial for the sector,” he said. “Covid-19 has destroyed the sector. Many had lost their jobs and entrepreneurs didn’t have a clue on how to ... Read more

Private airline Vistara is likely to start flight operations between India and the UK, Germany and France under the bilateral air bubble arrangements that have been signed with these countries, news agency PTI has said. Earlier this month, India and the UK signed a bilateral air pact, under which the airlines of both the countries can operate international flights with certain restrictions. India had signed similar bilateral pacts with Germany and France in July. Vistara got its second B787-9 wide-body aircraft on Saturday. It received its first B787-9 aircraft in February. “Vistara has already got the slots at the Heathrow ... Read more

Kerala Tourism is planning to attract domestic tourists through innovative campaigns on web portals, social media, television channels, radio, music streaming channels and OTT (over-the-top) platforms, once the pandemic eases. Impressions lasting from 1-6 minutes will be featured on 14 web portals as part of the online ad campaign at a cost of ₹1.18 crore, The Hindu has reported. Bloggers will be brought on to project Kerala under the Kerala Blog Express Influence Engagement Activity. The initiative is estimated to cost ₹88.5 lakh. In the ₹2.36-crore Social Media Tactical Campaign, Kerala will be featured on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube, ... Read more

The Fern Hotels & Resortshas opened a new property called The Fern Royal Farm Resort in Anjar-Kutch, Gujarat, in a move that could give confidence to others in the hospitality industry. This is the 20th hotel which the company is managing in the state. Overall, the company’s count has extended to 76 hotels across the country and in Nepal and Seychelles. Suhail Kannampilly, the CEO of the company said, “We are growing from strength to strength in Gujarat. This is our 20th property in the state and we are expecting to open a few more hotels in Gujarat over the coming months”. The Fern Royal Farm Resort, ... Read more

COVID 19 has changed the world order and the Travel and Tourism industry has been the worst hit. In order to usher in the new normal and build trust in travellers to travel again World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has come out with a global standard. WTTC has curated a ” SAFE TRAVELS STAMP ” as the new symbol of Trust for Travel and Tourism industry. Association of Tourism Trade Organizations, India (ATTOI) has partnered with WTTC for India, to promote and propagate this trust with tourism businesses in India. The World Travel & Tourism Council represents the Travel ... Read more

Madhya Pradesh Tourism has launched its new campaign ‘#IntezaarKhatamHua’ to build confidence and trust amongst travellers and to keep the audience engaged during monsoon by featuring major monsoon tourism attractions. As part of the campaign, travel influencers will visit various destinations of Madhya Pradesh as per the travel itinerary designed to promote the places during monsoon. The itinerary starting from Bhopal will cover Amargarh falls, Bhimbetka, Tawa, Madai, Pchmarhi, Tamia, Patalkot, Pachmarhi and from Indore the destinations covered will be Indore, Patalpani, Choral Dam, Jam Gate, Vanchu Point, Janapav, Mandu, Maheshwar, Omkareshwar and Sailani. The influencers will travel to these ... Read more